Sustain 3S03 Course Report |Fall 2015
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Sustain 3S03 Course Report | Fall 2015 A Letter from the Senior Manager In September 2015, another fantastic cohort of students took part in Sustain 3S03 – Implementing Sustainable Change. Students from 5 faculties and the Arts & Science Program engaged in interdisciplinary, community-based, student-led, and experiential education related to sustainability. Led by instructor Dr. Michael Mikulak, with support from Teaching Assis- tants Crystal Chan, Mariano Colicchio, and Elise Desjardins, students had the opportunity to examine the concept of sustainability by focusing on specific case studies and examples in relation to larger questions of power, knowledge, and human and non-human agency. Lectures, tutorials, and assignments were focused on developing truly interdisciplinary conver- sations that consider the different techniques and tools society has at its disposal for addressing the environmental crisis. To complement their theoretical knowledge of sustainability, students undertook an experiential learning project of their choosing. During the first week of classes, 50 students formed 13 project groups based on their individual interests in sustainability. To offer support, guidance, and ensure students had the opportunity to work with members of the McMaster and broader community, 12 individuals formally accepted the role of Community Project Champion by offering their time, resources, and expert knowledge to assist students in achieving their project goals. Additionally, countless members of the community participated in events, provided feedback through consultation, and offered mentorship. The tremendous amount of community support and engagement is illustrated by each group in the pages to follow under the heading of Collaborators. As you read this report, you will notice that the breadth of student interests related to sustainability is far reaching. Projects range from increasing the biodiversity of a small-scale organic farm, supporting the formation of a new cycling organization in Hamilton, conducting surveys and analyzing results to enhance the Bruce Trail, to analyzing bike parking inventory and making recommendations to the City of Hamilton. I hope you enjoy reading this report as much as I have enjoyed my experience in working with the individuals who have created it. Kate Whalen Senior Manager, Academic Sustainability Programs Mission McMaster developed the Sustainable Future Program for students interested in learning about sustainability while having the opportunity to engage in experiential learning through developing and implementing real-world sustainability initiatives. The Sustainable Future Program (SFP) aims to build reciprocal relationships between students, community members and McMaster University to engage all parties in the journey towards a sustainable future. Guiding Principles The guiding principles of the Sustainable Future Program are as follows • Teach students about sustainability from an interdisciplinary perspective. • Provide the opportunity for self-directed, interdisciplinary and experiential learning. • Support student learning within the University and local community. • Engage undergraduate students in taking part in meaningful, experiential research. • Foster opportunities for students to place local knowledge and local action within a global context. - Sustain 3S03 Course Report | Fall 2015 Table of Contents From the Class of 2015: Sustain 3S03 – Implementing Sustainable Change City of Hamilton Bike Parking Inventory and Analysis ..............................................................................4 Community Carshare at McMaster ..............................................................................................................5 Hamilton Burlington Trails ..............................................................................................................................6 Supporting the Formation of Cycle Hamilton ..............................................................................................7 Small Farm Biodiversity and Pollinator Habitat ..........................................................................................8 Communicating Sustainability in a Healthcare Setting ............................................................................9 Waste Management at McMaster University Medical Centre .............................................................10 Random Act of Kindness Day - McMaster Outreach ..............................................................................11 SustainableJoes EdTEAM ...........................................................................................................................12 Random Act of Kindness ..............................................................................................................................13 Student Attitudes Towards Food Waste ....................................................................................................14 Halton Consumer Food Waste Advocacy Team: Promoting Conscious Consumption ......................15 SustainableJoes: Making Sustainability Easy ..........................................................................................16 City of Hamilton Bike Parking Inventory and Analysis Student Authors: Tabbish Aziz, Matthew Halleran, Agstya Kaul & Tom Yang Overview Reporting From an environmental perspective, cycling reduces To support our project, the City of Hamilton provided us with detailed greenhouse gas emissions, which helps to fight climate information from their most recent inventory of City-owned bike racks, which change by providing a transportation alternative included bike rack location, condition, capacity, and many other metrics. to motor vehicles.1 In 2015, the City of Hamilton We then utilized geographic information software (GIS) to perform a gap inventoried locations and conditions of all bike racks analysis to see which locations in Hamilton were currently underserviced in Wards 1, 2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 within the city, by bicycle parking infrastructure based off a detailed criterion provided to with Wards 4 through 10 nearing completion. The us by the City of Hamilton. After assessing the data provided by the City inventory data provided the opportunity for further and identifying key locations of interest, which include places of worship, analysis and recommendations for improvement. The schools, and malls, seven key bike rack locations have been proposed along main goals of this project are to analyse the data and with justifications for each. Methods to improve the City of Hamilton’s provide the City of Hamilton with recommendations cycling records have been developed in order to increase the accuracy for next steps, specifically with respect to future bike and efficiency of data collection by observing practices carried out by the rack placement and management. When additional City of Toronto. The data gathered over the course of this report has been bike racks are installed, more people will likely use integrated in a GIS database, which shows all existing and potential bike the strategically placed stations, reducing the number racks provided by the City of Hamilton, along with bike racks proposed by of cars on the road. This will lower the air and noise our group. In addition to this integration, demographic data and locations of pollution in Hamilton, and help make this community interest have also been shown in the GIS in conjunction with the bike rack more sustainable.1 information. This map will give the City of Hamilton a clear visual of their bicycle infrastructure throughout the city, and can potentially be used by Objectives the public if they wish to know the locations of bicycle racks in Hamilton. In order to summarize all of the deliverables mentioned above, a proposal report has been submitted to the City of Hamilton. 1. Conduct a gap analysis to identify priority locations for new bike rack installations based on inventory data and detailed criteria provided by the City of Hamilton. 2. Develop a method of organizing and maintaining all inventory data on an ongoing basis. 3. Develop a geographical representation of existing and planned bike racks along with other relevant information, such as population and places of interest. GIS of Existing and Proposed Bike Racks in Wards 1, 2, and 3 Collaborators: We would like to thank our Community Project Champion, Janelle Trant. Janelle was instrumental in providing us with inventory data, acting as a liaison with others at the City of Hamilton, and providing guidance and mentorship throughout. Additional support for our project was provided by Crystal Chan, Teaching Assistant for Sustain 3S03, and Kate Whalen, Senior Manager, Academic Sustainability Programs, McMaster University. 1 Retrieved from Share The Road: http://www.sharetheroad.ca/what-are-the-benefits-to-government-when-they-invest-in-cycling--p128284 4 Community CarShare at McMaster Student Authors: Rubaid Dhillon, Amanul Haque, Sushen Talwar & Dillon Phoenix Overview Reporting Developed in 1998, Community CarShare is a non-profit We surveyed students about their most frequent mode of transportation, co-operative organization that provides carsharing average distance travelled, and familiarity with the different carshare services in several areas in Ontario. The goal of services available. Through the 120 completed surveys, the data showed Community CarShare is to promote carsharing as an that 70% of students do not own a car. Furthermore, 64% are